Suzumiya Haruhi no Go
by ComputerNerd
Summary: When Hikaru met Sai, it was not Sai's choice to possess Hikaru. It was the will of God. This God turns out to be a high school girl who is bored because she thinks the current level of Go is too low.
1. Baka no Itte

It was near the end of spring term in my second year at North High. I was looking forward to summer break, though I was pretty sure I wouldn't be freed from Suzumiya Haruhi's SOS Brigade during the summer.

My suspicions were confirmed sooner than I expected. It all started in the SOS Brigade club room. Koizumi Itsuki and I were peacefully playing Five-in-a-Row while waiting for Haruhi to make her dramatic appearance.

"Attention, everyone!" said Haruhi as soon as she entered the club room. "I have just decided on our next big mission...oh, it looks like Kyon and Itsuki have already gotten started."

Haruhi walked over to our table and examined our game. "What the heck are you doing?" she asked angrily. "_This_ stone should be removed from the board!" She pointed to a black stone in the center of the board.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, feeling confused.

"A stone or group of stones must have at least one empty point adjacent to it at all times!" said Haruhi. "If it has zero, it dies!"

"Actually, we weren't playing Go," said Koizumi with his usual annoyingly cheerful smile. "This is a game of Five-in-a-Row."

"Go?" I repeated, not knowing what Haruhi or Koizumi were talking about.

"Yes, Go!" said Haruhi furiously. "It's the game you're supposed to be playing on this board! It's called a Go board! As in, a board that you play Go on! Hence, the name!

"This brings me to our next big mission!" continued Haruhi. "We're all going to apply to become professional Go players!"

Asahina Mikuru squealed in fear. Nagato Yuki looked up from her book at the sound of Haruhi's words, but her face remained as blank and expressionless as ever.

"Surely you don't expect all five of us to pass?" said Koizumi, still wearing that goofy grin.

I stared at Koizumi, dumbstruck. It was completely unlike him to be the voice of doubt in front of Haruhi.

"After all, only three people are allowed to pass each year," he finished.

"That's where you're wrong," said Haruhi. "The biggest qualification tournament in the Ichigaya branch of the Nihon Kiin in Tokyo allows only three people to pass. But there are two other branches of the Kiin: the Central branch in Yaesu, Tokyo and the Kansai branch. Each one allows an additional applicant with the top score to pass. Now, I've already filled in the applications for which of us will participate in which tournament."

"You did _WHAT?_" I shouted.

"What's your problem, Kyon?" said Haruhi. "Don't interrupt the Brigade leader! As I was saying, Yuki, Mikuru and I will all play in the Ichigaya tournament. Itsuki, you're in the Kansai tournament. Kyon, that leaves you in the Yaesu tournament."

* * *

><p>Shortly after the spring semester ended, I made my way to Yaesu for my first game of the preliminaries for the Pro exam. This preliminary tournament would last for five rounds. To pass, I had to win three of my games. If that ever happened (which was about as likely as hell freezing over), I would move on to the main tournament, which would be a round robin tournament. After everyone played everyone else, whoever had the most wins would become a pro. Apparently the same thing was going on in the Kansai branch of the Nihon Kiin (not to be confused with the Kansai Kiin). In Ichigaya, however, the three people with the most wins in the main tournament would pass.<p>

I sat down in the room where we would be playing our games. We drew lottery numbers to determine who would play who for the first three rounds. After those three rounds were over, those with three losses would fail, while those with three wins would automatically qualify for the main tournament. Everyone else would move on to the fourth round.

"Kyon," said the tournament director. I got up when my name was called and drew my lottery number.

"Is Kyon your given name or surname?" asked the director.

"Neither," I said. "It's my nickname."

"So why did you register as Kyon?" asked the director.

"I didn't," I said. "Someone else signed me up for this tournament."

After we had drawn our lottery numbers, I sat down in front of my designated Go board. My opponent sat across from me and bowed. "Onegaishimasu," he said.

"Onegaishimasu," I repeated.

I played black in this game, thereby playing the first move. I didn't know the first thing about Go, except what I had recently read from a beginner's book. With no sense of strategy, I did what I always did in Five-in-a-Row: play in the center.

My opponent's expression looked skeptical about my move. He then played a white stone in a corner star point, four points across and four points down.

A miserable loss doesn't even come close to describing my first game. I was the laughingstock of the pro exam participants.

In my second game, I tried to implement what little strategy I had learned by playing in the corner star point. It didn't really do me any good, though. After I lost that game, people didn't even bother suppressing their laughter whenever I showed up.

_One more game,_ I thought to myself as I left the building after my second game. _After I lose one more game, I'll never have to show my face here again. Hopefully I'll never meet the people who are laughing at my horrendous absence of talent._

That night, my cell phone rang at about 11:00. I reluctantly answered it.

"Hi, it's me," said Koizumi's voice. "I need you to meet me at Nagato-san's apartment as soon as possible."

_To be continued..._

* * *

><p><em>Author's note: The information Haruhi mentioned about how five people become professionals at the Nihon Kiin each year is my vague understanding based on information from Hikaru no Go and Sensei's Library. I have no idea whether or not the three tournaments happen simultaneously, but for the purposes of this fanfiction, I am assuming that they do. I am also assuming that the preliminaries function exactly the same way, and the main tournaments are all round robin. I'm not sure whether or not this is true.<em>

_The title of this chapter, "Baka no Itte," is Japanese for "Hand of an Idiot." It is the antithesis of the "Kami no Itte," which means "Hand of God." All credit for the term "Baka no Itte" goes to Sensei's Library user ChiyoDad._


	2. Hikaru vs Haruhi

Hello, everybody reading the fanfiction! It's me, Sai! The previous chapter of Suzumiya Haruhi no Go was narrated by Kyon. So who better to narrate this chapter than...

What? It's not me? Then who?

Hikaru? But why is it always Hikaru? First Hikaru took the path to the _Kami no Itte _(Hand of God) from me! I eventually came to terms with that, but...can't I at least narrate?

* * *

><p>It was time for the annual Go tournaments to decide who would become professional players this year. I was curious about who would win, but right now I had to focus on my own professional matches.<p>

My current opponent was someone I had met before I had become a pro. He had a face that resembled a toad, which had constantly freaked Sai out whenever he saw him smile. Apart from being a professional Go player, he also owned an antique shop, where he sold counterfeit antiques for ridiculously high prices.

"So, you're still 5dan after all these years?" I said. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised that someone like you hasn't been promoted for a while." 5dan was the rank he had last time I saw him.

Toad Face didn't answer. He was probably paralyzed in fear from the last time I had played him. Actually, it hadn't been me who played last time, but Sai. Sai had overwhelmed him with his strength to the point where Toad Face resigned in the early mid-game. Sai then switched places with Toad Face, so that each player would pick up the game from where the other left off. Sai made an amazing comeback, which was very humiliating for Toad Face.

When we played, I tried as hard as I could to play a game worthy to justify Toad Face's fear of Sai. By the time we were in the mid-game, I was winning by a huge margin. Still, I felt Sai would have done better.

Toad Face lowered his head and resigned. I looked at the board position, wondering if I could make a comeback if we switched places again. Probably not. My winning margin wasn't quite as big as Sai's, and furthermore, this game was later into the mid-game than that game.

* * *

><p>That night, I did what I usually do: practice playing Go by myself be experimenting with new strategies. After a couple of hours doing that, I got tired, so I cleaned up my Go board and went to bed.<p>

I suddenly heard a girl's voice calling my name.

"Shindō! Hey, Shindō! Wake up!"

I opened my eyes. I was in the Nihon Kiin (Japan Go Association). I had been woken up by an extremely pretty girl – at least, I felt like I was awake, though common sense told me I was still dreaming. Still, it felt so real. Besides, having spent two years with the ghost of Sai, I had to redefine the meaning of common sense.

"How do you know my name?" I asked.

"Are you kidding?" said the girl. "You're the biggest news in the Go community, apart from Tōya Akira!"

"Who are you?" I asked.

"I'm Suzumiya Haruhi," answered the girl. "I'm taking this year's pro exam. So far I have two wins and no losses."

"Well, Suzumiya-san, we can talk about your progress in the pro exam later," I replied. "Right now I'm more interested in how we got here."

We looked around for a phone. We found one, and Suzumiya-san picked it up. "No dial tone," she said.

When she said that, I saw a red glowing ball of light out the window. I started to move towards it, but it moved to the side of the window to the point where it was in front of a different room.

I got the feeling that the ball of light wanted me to follow it. I moved in the direction that the ball of light had gone. Suzumiya-san seemed too busy checking the phone's cable to notice me leaving.

I came to a window where the red ball stopped moving. It grew bigger, and assumed the shape of a human being.

"You must be Shindō Hikaru," said a teenage boy's voice. "I'm Koizumi Itsuki."

"Would you mind explaining to me what's going on?" I asked.

"I don't have much time to talk," said Koizumi. "To make a long story short, Suzumiya-san wishes to leave the world you two live in and move on to a new world. Her wish is being granted, and the old world is at risk of being destroyed. The only way to save it is if Suzumiya-san changes her mind about the new world."

"How am I supposed to do that?" I asked.

"I'm not sure," said Koizumi, "but I have a pretty strong guess as to why she wants to abandon the old world. She's upset at the level of Go being played in this world, and she wants the new world to be better. Therefore, my best guess as to how to change her mind is to convince her that the old world isn't that bad at Go.

Anyway, I have to go now. I'm running out of energy to maintain this incomplete form in this closed space. Plus I sense Suzumiya-san approaching. It is essential that you don't tell her you met me."

Koizumi's red silhouette of a body shrank into nothing. Just then, Suzumiya-san showed up behind me.

"What do you think you're doing, wandering off like that?" she said angrily.

As I tried to come up with an excuse, I realized that we were in the room of the Nihon Kiin where insei and pros play their matches. "I was looking for a good place to play Go," I said. "Would you like to play me?"

"I suppose," said Suzumiya-san. "There doesn't seem to be anything better to do around here."

As I played Suzumiya-san, I realized that she was even stronger than Sai. Judging by her strength, it was no wonder Koizumi said that Suzumiya-san was bored with the world of Go around her. Still, I had to prove her wrong, and that meant that I had to show her as much strength as I could muster, even if I lost the game.

I made it to the late mid-game before I was certain that there was nothing that I could do to make a comeback. At that point, I resigned.

"Wow, Shindō, you're stronger than I thought," said Suzumiya-san.

"If you think I'm strong, wait until you play Tōya," I said.

Suddenly, I heard a huge stomping. Actually, huge doesn't begin to describe the kind of stomping I heard. It sounded like Godzilla's feet.

I ran over to the window and looked out. The monster responsible for the stomping was as big as Godzilla, but its body was mostly transparent, with a glowing light coming from its skin. It was not only stomping down small buildings, but trashing its arms around to destroy taller buildings.

"Wow!" said Suzumiya-san. "I've seen one of those before. Maybe it wants to play Go!"

"Are you kidding?" I said. "How could you consider playing Go against something like that?"

"What, just because it has such a huge body you think it has a tiny brain?" said Suzumiya-san. "That hardly sounds logical!"

"No, it's because it's trashing everything around it!" I said.

"It hasn't trashed us, has it?" said Suzumiya-san.

"True, but I'd like to keep it that way," I said.

"Come on, where's your sense of adventure?" said Suzumiya-san. "Don't you want to have some fun?"

"Isn't playing Go fun enough?" I asked.

"Not with the current population of players," she answered.

"But haven't you heard of the new wave?" I asked. "There are a bunch of young new players who have lots of potential and will be amazing someday! Tōya Akira is probably at the head of the new wave, and I'm his rival. There's also my friends, Waya, Ochi, Isumi and Honda. None of them have been doing very well against Tōya or me, but they're still part of the new wave! With each game they play they get stronger, just like Tōya and me. You have to give them a chance!"

Suzumiya-san looked like she was trying to think of an argument, but after a second or two, she just sighed. At that moment, the world around us dissolved.

I suddenly found myself back in my bed. I sat up, panting. I looked at my clock. It was 10:30 pm.

Had it all been a dream? When I first met Sai, I had asked myself the same question. I eventually came to the conclusion that Sai was no dream.

* * *

><p>The next morning I went to the computer café where I had let Sai play Go on the Internet. I was still no good with computers, so I asked the woman at the desk to help me navigate to the results of the pro exam preliminaries.<p>

I saw a picture of the girl I had met last night. The name next to her image said Suzumiya Haruhi. Her record in the preliminaries was two wins and no losses.

If what had happened to me last night had been an ordinary dream, Suzumiya-san would have been either a figment of my imagination or someone I had met before. But I had only learned of her existence in this world after the strange event last night, and every detail matched up. Therefore, this couldn't have been an ordinary dream, if it even was a dream at all.


	3. No Pain, No Game

Hello, it's me, Kyon. I will be narrating this next chapter. It seems that Shindō and I will be taking turns narrating this story. I can't guarantee it, but it looks like each of us will be narrating every other chapter.

When I got to Nagato's apartment, I saw Asahina-san, Koizumi and Nagato waiting for me. For the first time as far as I could remember, Koizumi wasn't smiling at all.

"You look worn out," I told Koizumi.

"I just came out of a closed space," he replied.

"I've never seen you this worn out before," I said, "and I'm pretty sure you've been through plenty of closed spaces."

"This wasn't just any closed space," panted Koizumi. "This was the worst closed space the Organization has had to deal with."

"What about the one that happened last year when Haruhi and I woke up inside that closed space, and the world almost got destroyed?" I said.

"This closed space was of equal magnitude," said Koizumi. "This time, you weren't with Suzumiya-san, either to calm her down or to go with her to a new version of reality. Fortunately, someone else was. It was all I could do to contact him to give him some clues as to how to calm Suzumiya-san down. However, the next closed space might be even worse, and there might be nothing we can do to stop the end of the world unless we act now."

"So how are we going to stop the end of the world?" I asked.

"Well, we're pretty sure we know the cause of Suzumiya-san's mood that's causing these closed spaces," answered Koizumi. "From that information, Nagato-san, Asahina-san and I have come up with a few ideas that might help."

"That doesn't sound very reassuring," I said. "So what's the cause?"

"I think you already know," said Koizumi. "Suzumiya-san is bent on all five of us becoming professional Go players at the same time. She's upset at you and Asahina-san for losing your first two games. It's a good thing she hasn't seen the details of your game. Assuming you've never played Go before, your games were probably beyond horrible. If Suzumiya-san knew just how bad, the closed spaces would probably have destroyed the world already."

"Wait, just Asahina-san and me?" I asked. "What about you, Nagato and Haruhi?"

"At the Organization, I played Go all the time before I was transferred to your high school," answered Koizumi. "I was probably strong enough to become a pro already if it weren't for my duties as an esper, which have only recently become involved in Go.

"As for Suzumiya-san, she seems to play Go with the _Kami no Itte_ (Hand of God)," Koizumi continued. "It's only natural, if you believe that she _is_ God.

"As for Nagato-san, being an advanced alien with abilities beyond humans sure helps her skill in Go," Koizumi finished.

"It's hard to tell with Nagato," I replied. "Half the time she's able to analyze the situation at hand and assimilate the necessary skills to find a solution. The other half of the time, she can't seem to tell the difference between a bullfrog and a fruit fly – no offense, Nagato."

"Assimilating human abilities was not necessary," said Nagato monotonously. "The Data Integration Thought Entity has observed millions of civilizations in the universe playing Go. We ourselves have participated in the game."

"No way," I said. "That's just too much of a coincidence."

"Not necessarily," said Koizumi, whose smile had returned. "The game of Go has such a small set of rules that derives into such complex strategy. Some say it's the perfect game, and if aliens play games, they play Go."

"So you, Nagato and Haruhi are undefeated in the pro exam preliminaries so far?" I asked.

"No," said Nagato. "I have one win and one loss. The opponent I lost to was Suzumiya Haruhi herself."

"More importantly, you and Asahina-san need to step up your game if you want Suzumiya-san to calm down," said Koizumi.

"Wait – you said that Haruhi hasn't seen the games played by Asahina-san or me," I said. "I thought Asahina-san was in the same tournament as Haruhi."

"Um, I resigned my games as soon as Suzumiya-san finished hers," squealed Asahina-san.

"I see," I said. "So, how exactly are we supposed to improve our games? We've got practically no time left to learn."

"Well, Nagato-san could inject you with a program that will play Go for you," suggested Koizumi.

"No way," I retorted. "That would make me some kind of Go-playing zombie who plays incredibly strong moves without any understanding of the meaning behind them."

"I thought you might say that," said Koizumi. "But that's okay. If you don't have time left to learn, we'll just have to create more time."

"You mean travel back in time with Asahina-san?" I said.

"Actually, Nagato-san will take care of this," said Koizumi. "Why do you think we're in her appartment?"

"We will study in that room over there," said Nagato. "Last time you entered that room, three years passed outside the room, while absolutely no time passed inside the room. This time, it will be the other way around."

"So we're going to spend three years in that room?" I asked.

"Not necessarily," said Nagato. "The two of you may leave the room when you are strong enough as Go players to satisfy Suzumiya Haruhi."

"And when we come out, no time will have passed at all since we went in?" I asked.

"Correct," said Nagato.

Asahina-san and I entered the room. Nagato followed us in, then closed the door.

"Wait, there's no food in here," I said. "We'll stave if we're in here too long."

"This room is surrounded in a field of energy that will sustain you without food or sleep," explained Nagato. "It will also prevent you from aging while you are inside."

* * *

><p>I have no idea how much time passed while Asahina-san and I were rigorously studying Go with Nagato. It was boring at first, but after what felt like a few months, I started getting the hang of it. Or at least, I was enjoying the game. Nagato was able to hold back her strength so that she wouldn't kick my butt in every game. If she did, I wouldn't learn anything.<p>

I noticed that Nagato had a bunch of books about Go. Some of them had diagrams for joseki (opening moves). I noticed that Nagato's joseki was completely different from anything in the book. I suppose the Data Integration Thought Entity had developed openings that were way stronger than anything played by humans.

Although Nagato's brain was more powerful than mine, I was able to get the hang of her joseki after about one third of the total time we spent in that room. I guess that's plausible, since human Go players have developed modern joseki over the course of thousands of years. Modern players learned joseki from the previous generation, then built on it to improve it slightly. Having Nagato as a teacher probably put me millennia ahead of the rest of the world – at least in terms of the opening game.

By the time we were allowed to leave the room, I not only grew strong as a Go player, but I also became quite fond of the game.

"Back already?" said Koizumi.

"You know how that room works," I said.

"I'm only joking," said Koizumi.

I left Nagato's apartment and rode my bike home. Fortunately I still remembered how to ride a bicycle after being locked up in Nagato's apartment after who knows how many years.

* * *

><p>The next morning I came downstairs for breakfast. I couldn't decide what to eat. I eventually chose a food item at random and tasted it. It gave me the most delicious sensation I could remember feeling – although given what I had been through last night, that wasn't saying much.<p>

"Kyon, what's up with you?" asked my little sister after I helped myself to thirds. "You look like you haven't eaten in years."

I was tempted to say, "I haven't," but I decided against saying it out loud.

* * *

><p>"So, ready to drop out of this tournament?" said my opponent in the third round of the pro exam preliminaries.<p>

"I haven't lost yet," I answered.

"You might as well have," said my opponent. "You couldn't beat me if I gave you 180 stones for a handicap."

"Um, assuming that the 180 stones are placed on the board in a checkerboard pattern, that would win me the game before the first move," I said.

"So you do know something about Go," said my opponent. "Oh well. It's not _that_ impressive. It will take more than some simple arithmetic to become a pro."

"Prepare to be surprised," I said.

My opponent burst out laughing.

"Please begin your games," said the tournament director.

"Onegaishimasu," I said.

"Onegaishimasu," repeated my opponent.

My opponent was obviously unfamiliar with the advanced joseki I had learned from Nagato. He probably thought I was making it up on the spot. Later in the game, however, he realized how good my position was thanks to my strange opening.

"I resign," he said when we were approaching the end of the mid-game.

* * *

><p>"What are you still doing here?" said one of the players in the fourth round of the pro exam preliminaries.<p>

"I'm at one win and two losses," I said. "I'm not out until I lose three times."

"How could you possibly have won your last game?" he said incredulously. "I saw your first two games. They were pathetic!"

"But you didn't see my third game?" I asked.

"There were an odd number of players for the first three rounds," he said. "I was the odd one out last game, so I got a win by default and didn't show up."

Since the people who had three losses dropped out of the tournament, and the people with three wins passed without playing the last two games, the remaining players in the tournament had to draw lottery numbers again. My opponent ended up being the player who had won his third game by default and was surprised that I was still here.

"I was worried when I lost my first two games," he said. "But once I beat you, I'll have two wins. Then I'll make it to the final round!"

"_If_ you beat me," I corrected.

"Stop fooling yourself," said my opponent. "You couldn't beat my four-year-old sister."

"I won my third game," I said. "And it wasn't by default either. Why don't you ask my opponent from that game how I did?"

"It was unbelievable," said my opponent from the third round. "I don't know how he did it, but you must not underestimate him."

"Please begin your games," said the director.

"_Onegaishimasu."_

Despite the advice he had received, my opponent couldn't seem to help underestimating my new strength.

* * *

><p>After I won in the fifth and final round, everyone wanted to know how I could possibly have sucked so badly during my first two games, then dramatically improved in the last three. I had no choice but to come up with an excuse.<p>

"Well, a while ago I got into an accident," I lied.

"And you took brain damage? And I suppose your brain just miraculously healed after your second game?"

"No, it wasn't actually brain damage at all," I said. "I broke my jaw. It was really painful. I had top-class surgery done on my jaw, so you wouldn't be able to tell the difference, but the pain still lingered on. Therefore I had to take these strong pain killers. Those drugs dulled my brain function until I stopped taking them."

* * *

><p>We had a few months before the real pro exam started. During that time, the entire SOS Brigade met regularly at Go salons. As usual, Haruhi made me pay the entrance fee for all five of us.<p>

We practiced playing Go diligently all summer. Haruhi was able to see how strong I had become. She already saw Asahina-san's strength, because they had played in the same preliminary tournament.

"If you're this strong, how come you lost your first two games?" Haruhi asked me.

I retold the story of the accident and the pain killers.

"Liar," said Haruhi. "If that were true, I'd know about the accident."

"Okay, you got me," I said. "Actually, I decided to throw the first two matches, then come back from behind. Just don't tell anyone I said that, because they'll be offended thinking that I patronized them. That's why I told them the story about the accident."

By the time the pro exam started, so had the fall semester at school. Fortunately, the professional exam was apparently so big that it authorized us skipping school to take it.


	4. The Return of Sai

**Hikaru's POV**

It's me again, Shindō Hikaru. I shouldn't need to tell you that this chapter will be told from my point of view, since it's pretty obvious from the boldfaced heading above. So we'll be using that heading from now on.

I was in the Nihon Kiin, reading an issue of the _Go Weekly_ newspaper. I gasped when I saw the results for this years new pros. One of them was Suzumiya Haruhi, the girl I had met in that strange parallel dimension during the preliminaries.

"So, did someone you had your eye on pass the pro exam?" said an elderly voice behind me. I turned around to see Kuwabara-Sensei standing behind me.

"I wouldn't say I had my eye on her," I said. "I, um, saw that she was taking the preliminaries for the pro exam a few months ago."

"But you've never seen her play?" asked Kuwabara-Sensei.

"Um, no," I lied. I had played her in that other dimension, but I didn't want to bring that up. I wasn't even sure if Suzumiya-san remembered playing me there, so I didn't want to bring up more questions and spread more rumors.

"I see," said Kuwabara-Sensei. "You must have detected a special aura around her. Your sixth sense is almost as sharp as mine! Ho, ho, ho!"

"What are you talking about, Kuwabara-Sensei?" I asked.

"Do you remember when you were still an insei, and we met at the elevator?" he replied. "I was walking past you when I noticed you. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I sensed something strange about you. I knew from that point on that you'd be a formidable opponent one day."

_Could he see Sai?_ I wondered. No, that couldn't have been it. He said he didn't know what he had sensed, but maybe he could feel some hint of Sai's presence. Either that or he really did sense something in me alone. No, I couldn't let that get to my head. I still had to remember that no matter how much potential I had, Sai was to thank for bringing me down this road, even after he disappeared.

I made sure to attend the New Shodan Classification – I mean Certification – Ceremony. I still can't believe that my mother, who knows nothing about Go, once corrected me on that.

"Are you going to wear a necktie to every New Shodan Certification Ceremony?" asked my mother. "You're already a pro."

"The ceremony isn't just for new pros," I said. "There are other awards too. Besides, Tōya turned pro a year before I did, and he still wore a suit with a necktie at the same annual ceremony as me."

I remembered that day very clearly. I had tried to show Tōya how far I had come as a Go player, but he had just walked past me without looking at me. Perhaps he had felt hostile because he knew he would be my opponent in my first Ōteai match, and he couldn't afford to relax. The fact that he would be my first opponent was something I had only found out later that day. Then, when the day of the game had actually come, Tōya hadn't shown up because his father had collapsed from a heart attack.

At this ceremony, I watched as the three girls who had passed this year's pro exam received their awards. The person giving the awards announced the name of each new pro along with who they studied under: Suzumiya Haruhi, self-taught, Nagato Yuki, also self-taught, and Asahina Mikuru, who studied under Nagato Yuki.

"Hello," said a teenage boy's voice. "Long time no see."

I looked next to me, but I didn't recognize the boys face, which had a goofy smile on it. His voice, however, sounded familiar.

"Have we met before?" I asked.

"Don't you recognize my voice?" he asked. "I understand if you don't recognize my face, since I was just a glowing red blob last time we met."

Then I remembered. "Oh, right. That parallel universe thing with Suzumiya-san. So, what was your name again?"

"You forgot already?" said the boy.

"I haven't spoken to you in months," I said.

"Fair enough," said the boy. "I'm Koizumi Itsuki. I just passed the pro exam this year."

"That's impossible," I said. "Only three people can pass each year, and I already saw who those three were."

"Actually, I didn't take the pro exam in Ichigaya," said Koizumi. "I took the one in the Kansai branch of the Nihon Kiin."

"Oh, I see now," I said.

"More importantly, I came here to give you an important message," said Koizumi. "You and Suzumiya-san both remember being in that closed space. She probably thinks it was a dream. It is essential that you keep it that way. That means that you must pretend not to remember any of it, or else Suzumiya-san will wonder how two people could have the same dream."

"Why can't I just tell her it wasn't a dream?" I asked.

"Do you remember what I said last time we met, about Suzumiya-san wishing to move on to a more exciting world, and her wish was coming true?" said Koizumi.

"Yes, I remember," I answered.

"Well, this happens all the time," continued Koizumi. "Whenever she makes a wish, it comes true. It's my job, along with three of my friends and an entire organization that I work for, to make sure she doesn't notice her wishes being granted. If she did, she might start abusing her wishing power.

"Anyway, it's alright if you don't believe me, as long as you promise not to mention the 'dream' to Suzumiya-san," Koizumi finished.

"Actually, I do believe you," I said. "I've seen crazier things than what you've described. So Suzumiya-san has some kind of fairy godmother giving her everything she wants."

"Actually, I don't believe she has a fairy godmother," said Koizumi. "Rather, she grants her own wishes, but she does so subconsciously. She has the powers of a God, but she doesn't realize it."

"A...God?" I repeated. Suddenly, everything clicked together in my head. I could feel the gears turning inside my brain.

"That b–" I called Suzumiya something that made Koizumi's goofy smile disappear for a second. _"She killed Sai!"_

"Sai?" repeated Koizumi. "You mean that mysterious Go player on the Internet?"

"That's the one," I said, still fuming with anger.

"Was he a friend of yours?" asked Koizumi.

I hesitated before saying, "Well, that's been a secret up until now. But given all the crazy stuff we've both been through, I might as well tell you."

"I see," said Koizumi after I finished my story. "Suzumiya-san must have wished for a talented Go player to appear. That was you, but you hadn't tapped into your talent yet. Therefore Suzumiya-san brought back a ghost from the past to help you unlock that potential. When he had succeeded, he had no more business left in this world, so he disappeared."

"How can you be smiling when you say something like that?" I demanded. "Sai is gone forever, and it's her fault!"

"Yes, but Suzumiya-san is also responsible for bringing Sai back to life in the first place," said Koizumi. "If it weren't for her, Sai wouldn't have had those extra two years."

"I don't care!" I said. "I want him back, even if I have to walk up to Suzumiya and demand that she bring him back!"

"I'm sorry, I can't let you do that," said Koizumi. "But don't worry. I know someone else who might be able to solve your problem."

"Who's that?" I asked.

"That would be Nagato-san," said Koizumi.

"You mean Nagato Yuki?" I asked. "One of this year's new pros?" 

"That's the one," said Koizumi.

"Nagato-san, Asahina-san, Kyon, meet Shindō Hikaru, who learned Go from Sai, who is effectively the ghost of Hon'inbō Shūsaku," said Koizumi. "Shindō, meet Nagato Yuki, an alien android who works for the Data Integration Thought Entity, Asahina Mikuru, a time traveler from the future, and Kyon, an ordinary human. Oh, and as for me, I'm an esper."

I gasped in shock as Koizumi revealed way too much private information. Asahina-san and Kyon had the same reaction. Nagato-san, however, simply wore a blank expression.

"Don't worry," said Koizumi. "I'm sure we can all trust each other as though Shindō were in the SOS Brigade."

"What about Suzumiya-san?" I asked. "Didn't you say that she couldn't know about any of our secrets?"

"Correct," said Koizumi. "I meant excluding her."

"Anyway, Nagato-san, there's something I wanted to ask you," I said.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" said the angry voice of Suzumiya Haruhi, who had just shown up. "How dare you not notify me when you've found Shindō Hikaru! I've been waiting to meet him for a very long time!"

"Never mind," I whispered to Nagato-san. "I'll have to ask you later."

"Hey, Hikaru," said Suzumiya-san, "you don't have any matches scheduled for tomorrow, do you?"

"No," I answered. "And since when were we on given-name terms?"

"Good," said Suzumiya-san, ignoring my question. "Meet us at North High after school tomorrow afternoon."

"Wait a minute," said Kyon. "Doesn't Shindō have his own school to go to?"

"Actually, I don't," I answered. "I turned pro during my middle school years, so I decided not to go to high school."

The next day, I headed over to North High. I followed the map of the school that Koizumi had drawn for me. When I got to the club room, I found most of the SOS Brigade waiting for me. Koizumi was playing Go with Kyon, and Nagato-san was playing with Asahina-san. Fortunately, Suzumiya-san wasn't there.

"So, Nagato-san, sorry to interrupt, but about what I was about to ask you yesterday..." I started.

"Koizumi Itsuki explained the situation to me," said Nagato-san. Her lips then started moving rapidly, and I couldn't make out what she was saying. It looked like she was casting some kind of spell at super speed.

"Sai has now returned," said Nagato-san.

"Where?" I said, looking around. I couldn't see Sai anywhere. "Is he haunting someone else?"

"Not someone," said Nagato-san. "Something. Sai is posessing the World Igo Web directly." She then returned her attention to her game against Asahina-san.

I then noticed that there was a computer in the room. I ran over to it and saw that the World Igo Web homepage was already open. I tried to think of a good user name, but after a second, I became too impatient to be creative with names. I logged in as "hikaru."

I scrolled through the list of online users until I found "sai." I clicked on his name and challenged him to a game. When the game started, I ended up playing white.

"Wow, a game between Shindō Hikaru and Sai," said Koizumi. "This I have to see."

"Shouldn't we finish the game we're already playing first?" argued Kyon.

It was difficult to measure my opponent's strength from the opening moves. Once we got into the mid-game, however, I had no doubt that this player was the real Sai.

Suddenly, Suzumiya Haruhi opened the club door door loudly. "All right, Hikaru, since you're already here, let's get started." she said.

"That's the second time you've called me by my given name," I said. "I barely know you, Suzumiya-san." I then returned my attention to the computer screen and played another stone.

"I call everyone in the SOS Brigade by their given names," answered Suzumiya-san. "But Kyon's the only one who calls me Haruhi," she added.

"Actually, Kyon is my nickname," corrected Kyon.

"Does that mean I'm now in this SOS Brigade?" I asked. "I'm not even part of this school."

"That's okay," said Suzumiya-san. "You can be like an ambassador. As such, I'd like to play Go with you as soon as possible."

"Well, I'm busy right now," I said. "I'm already in a match against Sai."

"All right, you can finish that one game," said Suzumiya-san, "but then your next opponent is me. Got that?"

Suzumiya-san walked over to the computer and observed my game. "You're losing," she said angrily.

"Well, what did you expect?" I asked defensively. "This is the same Sai who beat Tōya Meijin! The man closest to the _Kami no Itte_!"

"I don't care!" said Suzumiya-san. "Here in the SOS Brigade, defeat is not an option!"

At that moment, Koizumi resigned from his game against Kyon.

"Well, it looks like defeat is an option for Koizumi," I said.

"That's the only exception," said Suzumiya-san. "Members of the SOS Brigade are only allowed to lose to each other. Now you'd better turn this game around right this minute!"

_That's crazy,_ I thought. She couldn't possibly have expected me to turn the game around just like that, unless she saw a single move that would change the flow...

Wait. Maybe she did see it. I already knew from playing Suzumiya-san that she was stronger than Sai. Plus, Koizumi referred to her as a God. So she probably knew exactly what the best move in this situation was. Unfortunately, I couldn't just ask her what it was. This was my game with Sai. If only I could think at Suzumiya-san's level. Unfortunately, I still hadn't quite caught up with Sai, not to mention the God of Go.

Then I remembered. I had played against Suzumiya-san in a closed space during her pro exam preliminaries. There had been this one battle where I thought I had secured my territory in that area, but Suzumiya-san skillfully took it from me with one deciding move.

I looked at the position presently before me. The details of this battle were slightly different, but the basic shape of Sai's territory that I had been trying to take was essentially the same. It wasn't identical point by point, but I still knew where the critical point was: exactly where Suzumiya-san had invaded my territory in the other game.

The critical point that I played in didn't look very critical after just one move. However, a few moves later, it became obvious that I had just taken a large amount of territory away from Sai.

I heard Koizumi gasp in astonishment behind me. Sai seemed equally astonished. I couldn't tell by the expression on his face, since I could no longer see his face. He seemed startled judging by the time it took him to make his next move.

By the time I reached the endgame, Nagato-san and Asahina-san had finished their games. I was too involved in my own game to pay attention to which one of them had won, but I barely noticed them walking towards me to watch my game against Sai.

"Wow, this game is really close," said Asahina-san.

After I played the last stone to end the game, Sai passed.

"With a komi of five and a half points, Shindō wins by half of a point," said Nagato-san.

After I clicked the "pass" button, the computer calculated the score. Just as Nagato-san had said, I had won by half a point.

My next professional match at the Nihon Kiin was against my friend Waya. When I met him in the match hall, he seemed nervous, like he was afraid of me. I was kind of surprised that he chose today to be afraid of me. I've been stronger than Waya for a while now, despite the fact that he had been an insei before I even learned how to play Go.

"Shindō," said Waya, "your given name is Hikaru, right?"

"Yes," I said. "Why?"

"Are you the same Hikaru who defeated Sai?" he asked.

I hesitated before answering Waya's question. Previously I had denied any connection between Sai and myself. If I had confessed, people would either think that Sai and I were one and the same, or that I had some mysterious connection to him. The second option was actually true, but if I went into the details about that connection, people would think I was crazy. I could have easily pretended that I was Sai, but then I would have been recognized for Go strength that didn't belong to me.

This was different. In my previous game against Sai, I had beaten him with my own strength. Plus, I didn't have to explain any connection to him, since we had played each other over the Internet.

"Yes," I finally answered. "That was me."

"That game was amazing," said Waya. "I never would have been able to turn the game around like you did. By the way, why did you use your real name?"

"I'm not very creative when it comes to names," I said. "Besides, you're not really one to talk, _Zelda_. You do realize that's a girl's name, right?"

"So what?" said Waya. "Are you sexist?"

"No," I answered. "I don't think that people should be prevented from doing things because of their gender, especially considering Suzumiya Haruhi's performance in Go. I just think that a boy with a girl's name is weird, even an Internet user name."

"Either way," said Waya, "I wasn't expecting you to know how to tell the gender of non-Japanese names."

"I know because I read the _Legend of Zelda_ manga," I said.

"The manga?" said Waya. "Haven't you ever played the video games?"

"I'm not much of a technology person," I said.

Just then the buzzer rang. "Please begin your games," said the instructor.

"_Onegaishimasu,"_ said Waya and I together.

After I finished my game against Waya, I recorded my victory on a white board in another room. When I turned around, I almost had a heart attack when I realized Ogata-Sensei had been standing right behind me.

"Are you going to react like that every time you see me?" he asked.

I said nothing while I caught my breath.

"Don't worry," he said. "I'm not going to pester you about letting me play against Sai. I already played him yesterday."

I breathed a sigh of relief. "So who won?" I asked.

"Sai did," ansered Ogata-sensei.

"So I suppose you want a rematch?" I asked.

"Not really," he answered. "I had already seen your victory against Sai. I should probably have been going after you already. It's just that given my previous obsession with Sai, I figured it would be rude to him if I turned down this opportunity."

"I only beat Sai once," I said, blushing a little. "That doesn't mean that I'm stronger than he is."

"That's more than most people can say," said Ogata-sensei. "Before you, nobody has ever beaten Sai."

"Maybe," I said, "but I'd still like some time to train and make sure that I'm worthy to take Sai's place as your rival."

"You're worried about being worthy?" laughed Ogata-sensei. "I still haven't beaten Sai, so I should be the one worrying if I'm worthy to play you."

"I still want some time to train," I said. "How does a month sound?" I asked.

"Two weeks," argued Ogata-sensei.

"Three," I said.

"Deal," said Ogata-sensei. "I suppose I should get some training as well," he added.

"With who?" I asked.

"Who do you think?" said Ogata-sensei.

"Sai?" I said.

"That's the one," said Ogata-sensei. "How about you? Who will you train with?"

"Suzumiya Haruhi," I said.

"But she just became a pro this year," said Ogata-sensei.

"I know, but she plays like a God," I said. "You'd better watch out for her."


End file.
